Car-seal.



. No. 686,480. Patented 'Nov. l2, 19m; 0. w. RICHARDS.

GAR SEAL.

(N70 Model.)

Seale opened 0 0. 6 p 1. //J 1 3 0 6 O 11 (3 O 12 G O 26. C) a5. 6 /5 Q 4 0 42 O I :6 0 2. 0 O 6. 0 6'6. 0 O 63. O 62 01-. O 71. 0 71, i Q 0 76. Q 75. O O 7 I (D 7 O 0 3 0 9 Q I O as. 06 9 E O 4. l 0 4 Q O 100. 0100. G O 112, Z 0112. c O 120. 01:0. G)

mi NORRIS PETERS m. Pnomu'moq WASHINGTON. n. cy

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES WESLEY RICHARDS, OF FORT LOGAN, COLORADO.

CAR-SEAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 686,480, dated November 1901- Application filed August 29, 1901. Serial. N0- 73,751. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES WESLEY RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States, re

siding at Fort Logan, in the county of Arapahoe and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Oar-Seal, of which the following is a specification.

' This invention relates to means for sealing freight-cars and the like; and the purpose of the improvement is to prevent stealing by train crews or other persons from cars after the latter have been sealed without detection and also to economize materially in the use of seals, the present device being of such structure as to require the use of only one of the same to seal a car throughout a whole division or farther, as may be arranged or in accordance with the capacity of the seal and station-numbers disposed thereon, means being included in the seal and carried thereby for readilyindicating where a car was opened to add to or take from the contents thereof by properly-authorized persons and the number of times the car was opened and at what stations between its starting and destination points.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a car door and hasp, the latter being in engagement with a staple and said staple having the improved seal applied thereto and arranged as it will be at the startingpoint of a car. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the improved seal, showing it arranged to indicate that the car has been opened and resealed. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective of the improved seal looking toward the rear side thereof.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

The seal comprises a doubled sheet-metal strip 1 of suitable length having at the head, on the front side, initials 2, representing the name of a railroad, the starting-station 3, and the number 4, the said number 4 being that of the starting-station. On the back of the head portion is suitably applied the trainnumber 5, the car-number 6, initial of car '7,

and name of conductor 8, each of these last indications having blank spaces at the end thereof for the application of the matter related thereto. The doubled construction of the seal provides front and back numbers 9 and 10, which will be caused to depend equally by centrally bending the metal strip, and at the upper end of the seal is a loop 11, which is made accessible by pulling the members ,9 and 10 apart, so that one member may be slipped through the staple which receives the hasp of the car-door. The front heading of the seal is separated from the body of the member 9, below the same, by a line 12, which may be produced in any suitable manner, and under the said line on the left is the word Sealedand on the right the word Opened. Under the word Sealed are a plurality of longitudinally-alined openings 13 to receive a rivet 14, station-numbers 15 being arranged at the right of said openings and begin with zero or a cipher at the head thereof and transversely alined with the top opening. Each of the openings has a station-number transversely alined in relation thereto, and said numbers Will represent the stations between the starting and destination points of the car to which the seal is attached.

The use of the device is very simple and the application thereof may be readily effected. A car, for instance, is loaded and sealed at the station marked 0 and the lead or other soft-metal rivet 14 is inserted and secured in the opening alined with O.

The car then proceeds to the next station,

where it is required to be opened to take out part of the load or add to said load, and, as shown, the said station may have the number 43. When the car arrives at station 43, the railroad agent or other properly-authorized agent removes the lead rivet from the opening 13 alined with O and detaches the tions, and when the car arrives at its detina-- tion the seal will show the number of times and where it was opened and resealed, and

l by this means entrance to the car by any other than properly-authorized persons will be readily detected or be known and the point or location of the car will be known where such nefarious attempt or practice is carried on. This will avoid stealing the contents of the car by train crews and other persons and preserve the contents of the car with safety.

Instead of punching the openings 16 notches or other means of indication may be employed; but it is intended that said indicating means he of a positive character and ineffaceable.

The improved seal is cheap in its construction and one of the same may serve for attachment to a car throughout the whole run of the same between given points and thereby materially economize in the use of the seals.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- 1. A seal consisting of a doubled strip of material having a plurality of alined apertures along one edge to receive fastening devices and a station indicating character transversely alined with each aperture.

2. A car-seal consisting of a doubled strip of sheet metal having a heading with identifying indications thereon, the Words Sealed and Opened being located below the heading, a plurality of vertically-alined openings below the word Sealed to receive fastening devices, a station indicating number transversely alined in relation to each of the openings, the fastening devices consisting of soft-metal rivets, and means for indicating under the word Opened at what point a car is opened between the starting and destination points.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aifixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES IVESLEY RICHARDS.

Witnesses:

EFFIE R. RICHARDS, HELEN M. RICHARDS. 

